Unlike other group transfer reactions in biochemistry, the actions of nitrogen transferring enzymes do not follow a single unifying chemical principle. Nitrogen-transferring enzymes catalyze aminotransfer, amidotransfer, and amidinotransfer. An aminotransferase catalyzes the transfer of the NH2 group from a primary amine to a ketone or aldehyde. An amidotransferase catalyzes the transfer of the anide-NH2 group from glutamine to another group. These reactions proceed by polar reaction mechanisms. Aminomutases catalyze 1,2-intramolecular aminotransfer, in which an amino group is inserted into an adjacent C—H bond. The action of lysine 2,3-aminomutase, described in chapter 7, is an example of an aminomutase that functions by a radical reaction mechanism. Tyrosine 2,3-aminomutase also catalyzes the 2,3-amino migration, but it does so by a polar reaction mechanism. In this chapter, we consider NH2-transferring enzymes that function by polar reaction mechanisms. Transaminases or aminotransferases are the most extensively studied pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP)–dependent enzymes, and many aminotransferases catalyze essential steps in catabolic and anabolic metabolism. In the classic transaminase reaction, aspartate aminotransferase (AAT) catalyzes the fully reversible reaction of L-aspartate with α-ketoglutarate according to fig. 13-1 to form oxaloacetate and L-glutamate. Like all aminotransferases, AAT is PLP dependent, and PLP functions in its classic role of providing a reactive carbonyl group to function in facilitating the cleavage of the α-H of aspartate and the departure of the α-amino group of aspartate for transfer to α-ketoglutarate (Snell, 1962). PLP in the holoenzyme functions in essence to stabilize the α-carbanions of L-aspartate or L-glutamate, the major biological role of PLP discussed in chapter 3. The functional groups of the enzyme catalyze steps in the mechanism, such as the 1,3-prototropic shift of the α-proton to C4' of pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP). The steady-state kinetics corresponds to the ping pong bi bi mechanism shown at the bottom of fig. 13-1. This mechanism allows L-aspartate to react with the internal aldimine, E=PLP in fig. 13-1, to produce an equivalent of oxaloacetate, with conversion of PLP to PMP at the active site (E.PMP), the free, covalently modified enzyme in the ping pong mechanism.
Using pre-steady state and steady-state kinetics to examine the roles of active site residues in L-DOPA dioxygenase